Did you know that the average American consumes more than 152 pounds of sugar and 146 pounds of flour per year? And did you know that flour converts to sugar? This is in excess of what our bodies are capable of handling. We are unable to burn all that sugar so it gets stored and ends up as fat. Especially around your belly. Increasing your waistline!
A diet high in starch and sugar increases inflammation which is responsible for much of what goes wrong in our health not to mention a direct link to diabetes and obesity. Hormones go haywire and that sets off any number of damaging issues.
We are programmed to think fat makes us fat so we tend to replace it with more starch and sugar. Of course, this is not necessarily always a conscious effort. On the contrary, we're usually bamboozled into this line of thinking by our wonderful and all-powerful food companies and their advertisements.
The weight loss industry is a multi-billion dollar industry because we are always looking for that quick magic fix that doesn't exist. With all the products out there, would we still be suffering from an obesity epidemic if their fad diet sales pitches worked?
According to the Cleveland Clinic in their "Health Essentials" article, recent research shows that high-fat, low-carb eating burned more calories than low-fat, high carb foods as was the craze back in the 80's. That was when things started to go SOUTH! And the food industry capitalized on it by adding more sugars, fillers, transfats, and chemicals to replace the taste of the fat they took out.
Now, what did all these replacements start to cause? Think about how many people you know at younger and younger ages getting sick. Or yourself or others you know with some sort of chronic pain. We really are what we eat.
There are, of course, different kinds of fats. Some good, some bad and some neutral. But high-quality fats can actually help regulate blood sugar levels which in turn helps with less fat storage and more fat burning.
Some high-quality fats include extra virgin olive oil, avocados, extra virgin coconut oil, nuts, seeds and fatty fish. There are also high-quality flours that are not processed bleached wheat (does that even sound healthy?) but that's for another day.
Now I wouldn't go adding cups of olive oil to my salad or cooking but I would definitely look at the serving sizes and use them accordingly. Keep in mind, calories in too much excess vs. expenditure will eventually add on pounds too. It's all about balance. Think whole foods. Lean meats, vegetables, fruits (unless advised otherwise by a doctor) and quality fats and grains unless you're Paleo. But I'd definitely go easy on wheat even whole wheat! I've been on the organic bandwagon for about 4 years now. It's been a learning and continuously evolving process. But a year ago, I made the decision to go wheat and sugar-free and it feels great! I have my weaknesses that I make room for when eating out but for the most part, this is how it is. And there are amazing and delicious naturally made foods without added sugar including chocolate, cookies and a whole list of other great stuff.
For more details, please feel free to contact me. And as another of my posts suggests, go slow and gradual.
Best in health,
Robyn
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